Fairfield case depends on age, weight of primate

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), MariAn Gail Brown STAFF WRITER

Published 1:00 am, Monday, March 9, 2009

FAIRFIELD -- The prosecution's case against town resident Pierce Onthank for illegal possession of a primate named Koby comes down to two things: the simian's weight and the date it came to Connecticut.

His neighbors call the charge against him ridiculous, mean-spirited and an abuse of power.

The DEP has accused him of illegal possession of a primate. The law the state agency helped draft said primates may be kept in Connecticut if their weight at maturity is under 50 pounds and they came to the state before Oct. 1, 2003.

Koby, who has long arms and is one of the smallest apes, is fully grown and stands about the height of a toddler, just under 3 feet tall. Neighbors say they believe the animal weighs "40 pounds at most."

The state agency sent a series of photographs of Koby to a veterinary expert it consulted to identify what kind of primate he is, as well as his age.

The veterinarian determined Koby was a siamang gibbon, but said, "I cannot confirm the exact age at this time," except "this siamang is under 5 years of age."

Onthank's Jennings Road neighbor Amy O'Brien and others said Koby, who is not living with the Onthanks now, has belonged to the couple for close to six years.

in Greenwich last summer, where he arranged for it to be cared for while his home is up for sale.

The case against Onthank is slated to be continued to March 31, which will be his fifth court appearance.

An arrest affidavit filed by the DEP in court claims Onthank was required to have a wildlife permit for Koby. Zoos and wildlife sanctuaries are exempt from the law, and Koby was at such a preserve when DEP conservation officers arrested Onthank and charged him with the infraction.

"We moved into our house more than two and a half years ago, and they had Koby then," O'Brien said. "And they had him for a long, long time before that. Koby is part of the neighborhood lore. Everybody's known about him."

Charlotte O'Brien
, a classmate of one of the Onthanks' sons at
Roger Ludlowe High School
, said, "All the kids in the neighborhood have grown up with that monkey -- that same monkey for years. That's why they call that "the monkey house.'"

From her front window, Amy O'Brien said she could peer across the street and catch glimpses of Koby swinging in his cage.

"He was always well cared for, and he didn't go roaming through the neighborhood, biting or attacking anybody," she said, adding that every once in a while she might see Koby outside with Pierce Onthank, playing hide-and-seek close to the house.

"He never strayed away, never went down the driveway or anything. And the owners didn't parade him around, walking through the neighborhood."

Pierce Onthank could not be reached for comment, either directly or through his attorney,
James Wade
, a litigation partner with Robinson & Cole in Hartford.

The state's case against Onthank is attracting media attention because of a 200-pound chimpanzee's horrific mauling in February of a Stamford woman,
Charla Nash
. Nash is being treated at the Cleveland Clinic.

Onthank has kept simians and other wildlife, including iguanas, at his Fairfield home for years. He works for the
Wildlife Federation
, his wife,
Susan Onthank
said, adding that Onthank frequently gives conservation talks about wildlife and has assisted in the identification of a new monkey species.

In its affidavit, the DEP acknowledged Onthank possessed a number of exotic animals that he claimed he often loaned to zoos and preserves.

The Onthanks, who wed in Kenya, have strong ties to Africa, a native habitat of gibbons.

Koby is not a pet, Susan Onthank insisted.

"We don't dress up our monkey and parade him around anywhere," she said. "His mother abandoned him when he was born. She rejected him. That sometimes happens with a firstborn. He had to be bottle fed with formula."

She declined to say exactly when the couple acquired Koby or to discuss other details of the case against her husband on the advice of their attorney.

Onthank's is one of 47 cases now being prosecuted in the state for possession of wildlife without a permit, according to
Judicial Branch
records.